


Civilian Heroes / Bien Joué / Us Against the World

by mrs_berry



Series: Avril Amour (Adrinette April 2019) [22]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Action, Adrinette, Adrinette April, Adrinette April 2019, Adrinette | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Akuma Hypnocalypse, Apocalypse, Attempt at Humor, Bien Joué, Civilian Heroes, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Hypnotism, I mean technically it's the whole love square due to reveal, Identity Reveal, LadyNoir - Freeform, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Marichat, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Romance, Second part added, Trust, adrienette - Freeform, but good always prevails, but no ladrien, hints of romance, just pretend this was posted april 2019 lol, love square, romantic follow up!, sorry I am so late with this, these kids deal with way too much, us against the world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:40:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22215703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrs_berry/pseuds/mrs_berry
Summary: What will Ladybug and Chat Noir do when Paris suffers from a zombie-esque apocalypse and they're the last two unaffected Parisians?(This work was written for the Adrinette April 2019 prompts: Civilian Heroes, Bien Joué, and Us Against the World.)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Avril Amour (Adrinette April 2019) [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1320833
Comments: 29
Kudos: 152





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to finish up Adrinette April 2019... better late than never... right?
> 
> *tumbleweed blows by, author and event has been forgotten*
> 
> Anyway, ahem. I know the prompt was civilian heroes, pluralized, but only one civilian hero in this fic. But don't sweat the details, please.
> 
> Oh yeah, I also decided to use 3 prompts because I'm a cheater. Or perhaps you could call me ambitious.
> 
> Well, without further ado, please enjoy.

"We're out of options."

"LB, this isn't like you. There's got to be another way."

"No, not this time," Ladybug sighed as she looked over to her partner, sweat glistening on her forehead. "We've already tried everything else."

They were crouched next to each other on a roof, overlooking the grim situation of Paris. They hadn't made it to Master Fu on time, so they hadn't managed to get any of the other kwamis to help them out. They had been running for several hours at this point, using every plan and trick they could think of. But all of them had failed so far.

And now, the whole of Paris was hypnotized.

With the exception of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

(And, well, Hawk Moth and probably Mayura, too. But they didn't count.)

Chat brushed the sweat off his own face, then looked over to his partner.

He had been wanting to know her identity for so long.

But not like this.

Not when it seemed like the world was coming to an end. Not when it was basically a zombie apocalypse. Not when the desperation and fear was reflected in her widened eyes.

"I'll be a diversion. Buy you some time," he decided with resolve.

"Just listen to my whole plan first. I hate it, but you being a diversion is actually part of it."

"Oh my, this really is the last resort then," Chat waggled his eyebrows, trying to lighten the hopelessness lingering in the air between them.

"Yes," she replied. Quickly, she explained the plan to her partner. It was a bit rushed and not as well-thought out as she would like, but they were running out of time and they could feel the exhaustion catching up to them. She knew they would be found again before long. So she explained her Plan Z, and before her partner could get a word in edgewise, she muttered, "Tikki, spots off."

Chat nearly screamed, but Marinette slapped her palm over his mouth and shushed him. With her other hand, she popped open her purse for Tikki to go eat. Tikki sensed the dire situation and ate her macaroon in her purse in silence.

"Your turn," she demanded.

"Mhm mrrhm," he said into her hand, which she had not yet removed. With a flash of mischievousness, he licked her hand.

She drew her hand away and shook her head.

"Chat! C'mon!" she whisper-yelled. "Now is not the time."

Looking like a kicked puppy, he nodded.

"Fine. Plagg, claws in."

Had it been a normal moment, Marinette would have shrieked or possibly fainted. But responsibility and the weight of the world was currently strangling her, so all she managed was a choked cough.

"Are you okay?"

"Ahem. Yes. Sorry, A-Adrien. Quickly feed Plagg and give me your shirt."

Plagg gave Marinette a raised eyebrow and was tempted to be sassy. However, he decided against it and mumbled, "Cheese should be savoured," before he grabbed the cheese and began scarfing it down, despite the comment he just made.

"Why didn't you use your Lucky Charm? I'm sure it would conjure up a shirt too."

"I already told you. I need a believable disguise. A red spandex onesie with black spots stands out, same with my black spotted red lucky charm objects. And as much as I would like to be the diversion for once, I'm the one who purifies the Akuma and has the Miraculous Cure."

"Good points, as always, M'La—err, Marinette."

Swiftly, he pulled off his black t-shirt (where was his usual white dress shirt?) and handed it to his most trusted partner and civilian superhero, Super Marinette.

With a flushed face and doing her best to ignore her shirtless crush's smoking hot body, she took the shirt and pulled it over her head, wearing it like a scarf. It would come in use later when she was near the Akuma.

She smiled, took a deep breath, then grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"I trust you," Marinette spoke with sincerity. "But, please, be careful. I need you to distract Hypnocalypse until I'm able to get close enough to her to take the Akumatized object."

Adrien nodded. Seeing as his kwami had finished his snack, he called for his transformation again.

Bare hands were replaced with leather, but Marinette could still feel his warmth. With yet another squeeze and a deep breath, she placed all of her trust with him.

He squeezed back before swiftly picking her up, hopping off the roof, and dropping her in a secluded area on the ground.

With a final nod to each other, unspoken understanding passed between the duo.

* * *

"Nice watch," Chat taunted to Hypnocalypse. "Too bad it was unable to 'watch' me as I escaped earlier."

"Chat Noir. You are not funny and never were," Hypnocalypse retorted. "I'm the only funny one here."

Despite the Akumatized victim saying nothing even remotely funny, all of the hypnotised people around them laughed on cue.

"Well whatever helps you sleep at night... speaking of which, do you hypnotise yourself to sleep? Or do your jokes put you to sleep instead?"

Hypnocalypse's eyes flashed with anger, a large scowl spreading across her face.

Great, not only was she not funny, but she couldn't take a joke either. Chat was disappointed that his distraction was turning out to be a bore, as he had no one to appreciate his jokes.

Hypnocalyse lifted her magic pocket watch, which was most likely where the Akuma dwelled. Knowing how powerful this object was, Chat knew he needed to be completely out of sight and hearing range to avoid being hypnotised. With the assistance of his trusty baton, he began to leap away at super speeds.

"Capture Chat Noir, you imbeciles!" Hypnocalypse yelled, halting her hypnotization in favour of using her minions.

Swarms of hundreds and thousands of people surround Chat, grabbing at his baton, trying to knock it and him over.

Chat knew he could escape, but he also knew that would not help Marinette. He needed to draw all of the attention to himself, in order for her to have a chance. He scanned the area near Hypnocalypse for Marinette to see if she was close enough to him yet.

It was difficult due to the sheer number of people, but Chat was eventually able to pick out his love interest from the crowd. Seeing that she was near the villain, he decided now was the best time to make it seem like Hypnocalyse had trapped him and won.

With a fake yell of anguish, he allowed the people to knock over his baton and purposely fell into the zombified-esque crowd.

After landing, he started to shove people away from him as hard as he could, just in case his partner still needed him in these final moments.

"Hahahahahahaha!" Hypnocalypse laughed maniacally. "Your Miraculous will be mine!"

Dozens of people had latched onto Chat's arms at this point. He was struggling to keep them away. He felt multiple people grasping his hand, trying to pry his ring from his fisted hand.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold them off for. He felt himself beginning to lose hope, but continued to hold on.

He had to be strong for his Lady. For Paris. For the world. Because who knew if Hawk Moth would stop at just Paris.

"Hah, gotcha!"

Somehow, despite all the noise of the people around him, Chat heard Marinette's voice echo strongly across the crowd and a moment later, he heard glass shattering.

She had destroyed the pocket watch. Chat felt relief as the grips on him loosened.

Hypnocalypse shrieked and grabbed at the girl who had snatched her precious watch—who also had a black t-shirt wrapped snuggly around her head.

Chat desperately pushed his way through the suddenly docile crowd. He couldn't let Hypnocalypse reveal her in these last seconds.

The nagging voice in his head told him there was no way he could make it to her in time. But he would be damned if wouldn't try his hardest anyway.

Just as Hypnocalypse was about to rip the shirt off Marinette to uncover her, he heard the magical words his heart had been yearning for.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Had she been a millisecond later, there was no doubt her cover would have been blown.

Jumping away from the still semi-Akumatized victim, Ladybug whipped out her famous yo-yo and captured the dark butterfly.

After purifying it, she threw her lucky charm into the air—the lucky charm had been a replica of his baton, so he supposed it was symbolic rather than functional this time—and returned Paris and its people back to normal.

Relieved this ordeal was finally over, Chat ran over to Ladybug, closing the distance between them.

"Bien joué!" They bumped fists.

Chat felt the urge to hug her, but decided against it due to the ridiculous number of people in their presence.

"Talk later?" Ladybug suggested as her earrings beeped.

Giving her a soft smile, Chat nodded.

He turned to the latest victim and offered his help as usual.

Ladybug took off into the skies in the direction of the bakery.

Chat felt warm knowing where her destination was—where her home was. He felt even warmer finally knowing who she was.

The reveal wasn't ideal by any means, but it had happened and he was looking forward to what the future would bring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> I know there was no kiss or even hug, but couldn't really get one in given the severity of the situation. If people are interested, I could perhaps be persuaded to have a romantic follow-up. EDIT: follow-up chapter added!
> 
> Anyway, I will try to finish up the remaining prompts even if it kills me or is super late 😂 I'm not a quitter!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two superheroes have a much-needed talk after the latest and most dangerous akuma battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The romantic follow up is upon us! I hope I did it justice. Please enjoy and let me know what you think! ❤

"You're the one I like."

"What?"

"It's you. It's always been you that I liked. And now that I know you're Chat, it will always be you."

Chat Noir stared at Ladybug dumbfounded and in complete disbelief. Of all the ways he thought this conversation would start, this was not one of them.

Ladybug stared seriously into his eyes. But he saw a glimmer of something else there.

Fear.

"I... Are-Are you sure?" he asked, swallowing the lump in his throat, still not fully comprehending—or believing—what she was saying.

"Yes. And I should have said it sooner. I've been avoiding saying anything for so long," she admitted sheepishly.

"Oh. Wow. Um, what... what changed?" Chat was struggling to wrap his head around this information.

Was he dreaming?

"Yesterday. Yesterday, we nearly failed. Paris almost met its doom..." Ladybug trailed off, uneasily looking down at her feet. The thought of failure and possible death plagued her mind.

"Bug?" Chat prompted, stepping closer to her, suddenly filled with concern.

She looked back up at him, strength suddenly shining brightly in her previously dull gaze.

"Knowing how close we were to... I mean, knowing that we might not have much time left, that we could _die_ at any moment... it made me realize that I mustn't hesitate anymore," she explained. "Paris—or even the whole world!—could end tomorrow and it would be too late to react. So I've decided that I need to take action sooner. I need to be proactive. So I'm taking that first step forward. I won't wait for it to be too late."

Seeing such resolve and hearing her reasoning snapped something in him.

She was confessing to him. Because they nearly died.

A smile slipped onto his face at the realization, love filling his heart, his lungs, his mind.

But at the same time, he knew he needed to reassure her.

"Marinette, I feel the same way. And I agree," he said gently. "But, despite it being a close call, I really think we will always win. We will always succeed. We are the perfect team and even if it's us against the world, I believe in us. I believe in you."

Chat de-transformed, softly taking her hand in his.

Ladybug, with glossy eyes, called off her transformation as well.

"We're only human," she whispered softly. "We aren't invincible."

"We're also superheroes. And Hawk Moth is human as well," Adrien countered.

"We're young, with little life experience and knowledge," Marinette added.

"We're more creative, have far better reflexes, and have endless energy. We have longer left to live. Even if we fight Hawk Moth until he dies of old age, we will win. Justice always prevails," he reassured.

"That's just in fiction."

"Life is stranger than fiction."

"That doesn't prove that justice will win," Marinette replied, cracking a small smile.

"I'm a superhero, not a lawyer," he quipped, his lips twisting upwards to mirror hers.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, letting everything sink in.

Marinette sighed, Adrien was right. They could do this. They would win. Always.

She just needed to believe in it once again. Hawk Moth had been beating her down lately, physically and emotionally. But for the sake of Paris—and all those she loved—she needed to be strong again.

And her partner was the perfect person to help her with that.

"You're right. We've got this. Hawk Moth is messing with the wrong team," she declared, trying to pep back up.

"Yeah he is. It won't be long until he eats our dust," Adrien joked, giving her a cheesy grin.

Marinette appreciated it. He always managed to cheer her up and lighten the situation. She loved him.

Speaking of which...

"So now should I repeat what I said earlier or...?" Marinette asked, switching back to the topic of her confession.

A smirk adorned Adrien's lips.

"I would love to hear the girl I love repeat her words of love to me." Adrien winked.

Marinette rolled her eyes, a small blush unwillingly creeping onto her cheeks.

"Fine, I li... you," she mumbled, suddenly feeling shy.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." He leaned closer, putting a hand to his ear as if it would help him hear better.

She was positive he was messing with her.

Yet, she wasn't mad at all. Quite the opposite in fact.

Huffing, she impatiently grabbed his shirt collar and yanked his lips onto hers, sliding her eyes shut.

The kiss lasted for a second before she pulled away to look at him.

His eyes were widened in pure shock and his mouth was gaping.

She giggled at the funny sight.

"C-can we redo that?" he asked once he was finally able to get some oxygen into his lungs.

Marinette put her fingers to her lips with a coy grin.

"Hmm," she deliberated, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Only if you say the magic words."

"Pretty please," he begged, not a shred of dignity or pride to be found.

"That's not very magical," she quipped.

"Please with a cherry on top?"

Smirking, she shook her head.

"The magic words are 'Lucky Charm' or 'Miraculous Ladybug,'" she giggled at her own poor joke. "Or I suppose 'Cataclysm' would have worked, too. Though it's not quite as romantic-sounding."

Adrien stared at her blankly for a moment, before bursting into laughter.

Wiping a tear between boughts of laughter, he finally said, "Goodness, my jokes must be rubbing off on you, because that was _bad_."

Marinette scoffed, before she, too, joined in on his laughing.

After the two had calmed down, they exchanged soft looks between each other.

Wordlessly, Adrien placed his hands on Marinette's cheeks and slowly brought his face closer to hers.

He hesitated, giving her time to pull away if that was what she wanted.

But it was not.

She bit her lip and smiled, then once again closed the distance between them.

This kiss was tender and full of emotion.

Marinette's hand gravitated to his hair, fingers weaving through the soft blond locks. Her other hand grasped at his bicep.

Adrien caressed Marinette's cheeks, jaw, and neck, relishing in her soft, strawberry-flavoured lips.

The kiss lasted more than long enough for them both to know exactly how the other felt.

Desperately in love with each other.

When the kiss was eventually broken, they rested their foreheads together and sighed happily.

"I love you, Marinette. You're amazing and I know that with you by my side, we can overcome anything together," he whispered.

"I agree. I love you, too, Adrien."

And with that, they went on to share countless more kisses, neither wanting to take for granted the time they had with each other.

Now that they were together as more than just partners, friends, or classmates, they were even more unstoppable than before. Not only would Hawk Moth be unable to beat them, but even the world wouldn't be able to handle them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Marinette seems too confident here, it's not my intention. My intention is that she nearly faced death, so she has come to some heavy realizations; her own mortality being one of them.
> 
> I didn't nearly experience death myself, but my husband did. And being the one who nearly lost him made me realize how much I take for granted. Life is precious and can be short. Every moment should be lived to its fullest. So my intention here is that Marinette has also come to this understanding and that's why she no longer wants to hesitate or waste precious time.
> 
> I think Adrien feels this to a lesser degree, but he still understands. It's just he has absolute faith they will always win, while Marinette has some doubts.
> 
> Anyway, I hope that this romantic follow up does not disappoint or seem unrealistic!
> 
> Please let me know what you think in the comments, it would be much appreciated! ❤


End file.
